A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Capitol

“While people in Palestine & in many other places in the world are struggling to achieve democracy, there are those in the U.S. who are actively sabotaging theirs.”

-Tweet from Palestinian official, Hanan Ashrawi

Things that I did today for the first time:

1. Type the words insurrection and sedition; I wrote a couple papers on Latin American history in college so alas, I cannot add coup to that list.
2. Poured whiskey over vanilla ice cream. Why did I not think to stock up on Bailey’s before the inauguration? P.S. Don’t recommend…
3. Found myself agreeing with Mitch McConnell
4. Managed to discuss the end of American democracy and garage door windows in the same fifteen minute conversation with a neighbor.

Things that I did today, not for the first time:

1. Contemplate the moral cost of Trumpism. Where the hell were the religious leaders condemning this violence? It was nothing but crickets out there. I am pro-life but a few conservative judges here and there will hardly persuade me to ally with someone who desecrates all else that I hold dear.
2. Wring my fists at the racial hypocrisy. The federal response to peaceful BLM protests was aggressive disproportionate. Why wasn’t every single individual who broke that barricades and perimeters established by the police arrested?
3. Wonder at how to explain the state of the world to my children. Yes, I realize that the nuances of right-wing extremism are a little bit above Nicholas’ pay grade. That being said, parenthood, while chaotic and widely convoluted in other ways, often shines a definitive light of clarity. In the last year, I have trained myself to yell, “Fudgesicle” instead of using actual profanity. Little eyes are always watching and little ears are always listening. Except right now, those are the eyes of the world – both allies and foes – waiting to see how we react at one of our lowest points.
4. Fold a load of towels. Who knew that there would still be laundry to do during the apocalypse?
5. Pray and breathe. Breathe and pray.

Stay steadfast, folks…this may have been the poetic culmination of the debasement brought to us by the Trump years…but we’ve got such a long, hard road ahead.